


Let Me Come Home

by blak_cat



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-15
Updated: 2015-05-15
Packaged: 2018-03-30 17:18:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3945124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blak_cat/pseuds/blak_cat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Housewarming gifts await at the Summer Society house as Laura and company seek shelter back on campus. (Based on the snap of the stuffed black panther).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Me Come Home

**Author's Note:**

> This is based purely on speculation and may very well get disproved come the new season, but I died when I saw that stuffed panther. I assumed, based on previous posts, that the set is the Summer Society house though I am secretly hoping it's Castle Karnstein. We'll see.

About an hour before the campus came into view the weight on Carmilla's back grew heavier and the limbs around her neck and wrapped around her waist grew slack. Laura's breathing started evening out against her neck and the heart beat into her back was slow and steady. At this point she must now be in her second dream and stopped shivering in the breeze though Carmilla imagined snowflakes were collecting on her heavy eyelashes. 

Ahead of them, LaFontaine and Perry were conversing with a very tall and lanky redhead Carmilla knew all too well. She took a step into their range of hearing and they turned to look. Perry wore concern like her favorite sweater, LaFontaine was smirking, and Xena was glaring. So nothing changed there then. Good.

"Good hustle C," LaFontaine said making a heart sign with their hands and looking at Laura. 

"Ha. Ha."

She came to a stop in front of them and did her best to hoist Laura up from where she was slipping down her back, without stirring her awake. There was a dichotomy of relief and apprehension as Carmilla eyed the large gothic building getting clearer and clearer through the dark. The Summer Society house was brick and make-shift turrets and all sorts of Addam's Family. In the place of gargoyles there were various statues of Greek and Roman goddesses and odd creatures. Par for the course, it seemed, in the realm of Silas. At least nothing was coming to life (yet).

"You're recovered then?" Danny asked, eyes bouncing between her and Laura and maybe looking for an injury or two.

"Seems that way," she said.

"Cool."

She nodded her head back and turned towards the front door of the house were a small crowd of girls gathered in sweaters and robes and slippers to watch. Carmilla allowed the others to walk before her, following in the back. Laura mumbled something in her sleep that Carmilla didn't catch and she gripped both her legs a little tighter.

_Almost out of the cold._

All eyes were on Carmilla as she stood at the brink of the threshold, feeling something like a buzzing in her ear and a sudden nausea as she lingered just out of reach of the doorframe.

"Uh," she said. Well this was fucking embarrassing.

LaFontaine and Perry watched with furrowed brows and the sisters of the house switched to much less kind looks complete with one raised eyebrow and crossed arms.

"You have to…" Carmilla began. Was she really going to be forced into saying it? In front of everyone? "You have to invite me in."

She stared hard at the doormat reading "Fortune favors the bold" on it as hairs all over her body picked up on the energy of distrust, anxiety, and just general loathing coming from the other side of the door, inside a world she was currently not a part of or privy to, but she really needed to get Laura out of the snow.

"Come in Carmilla."

Danny was the one to offer the invite. The buzzing stopped immediately and the nausea vanished. Carmilla took a step through the door and the warmth inside was welcoming until it cooled degrees with each pair of eyes she met.

_Okay, so maybe a little stake happy here._

The walls, for as far as she could see down the entry hall, were elegantly bathed in red and gold. The décor outside matched the interior as she spotted similar statues of Greek females, now interspersed with oddly macabre bits of memento mori and a few trophies that ranged from recognizable antlers to God knows what else on the walls.

"Your room is upstairs," Danny said. "You'll have to double up."

"I think we can manage that just fine," Perry said.

"We made food, if you guys are hungry," said one of the sisters.

"Starving," LaFontaine said.

"I'm going to drop her off," Carmilla said.

Danny nodded and Carmilla moved past her towards the stairs, blindly guessing at directions since none of her compatriots were about to say a word to her or offer a map.

"We left a housewarming gift in your room, you'll know it went you see it," Danny called as Carmilla shifted Laura's weight to lean forward as she took a step up.

"Let me guess, a shrine of crosses and a bedside cup of holy water," Carmilla grunted.

"I'm wounded," Danny feigned hurt but Carmilla could hear a smile.

Whatever, maybe they'd be friends now if her coeds didn't murder her in her sleep or banish her from the house and refuse to invite her back. That'd be an awful trick to play. Best not to implant the idea.

She carefully took more steps, they groaned under the weight of both of them and it recalled, at least a bit, of that room in their old building. Well it still was their building and it still was there room. But when Danny called them back to campus she said there was unusually high activity in and around the building, no doubt hunting for them. Carmilla should probably thank the sisters for inviting the wiggling worm on the hook into their home while the fish were on the prowl.

Though if it came to it, Carmilla didn't have to guess who was going to be the first one voted off the island.

Carmilla used her foot to start kicking open doors when she hit the landing. Most of them were clearly in use, messy, and covered in bows and arrows and hunting knives and what the hell did they need a scimitar for? This place was a fucking circus.

Two more kicked in doors and she found an unused room, a large white bed, perfectly made, in the center. And sitting blatantly in the middle of the bed was a large black panther stuffed animal looking stupidly in the direction of the door with buggy plastic eyes of gold and black.

"Oh, ha ha," Carmilla mumbled, stepping in.

She gently backed into the bed and lowered until she was sitting on the edge. Her hands clasped behind her to hold Laura by the sides as she quickly pivoted to face her lolled body. Once achieved without dropping her, she gently dipped her back until her head hit a pillow and Carmilla hooked her arms under Laura's knees and brought them onto the bed until her body was laying straight.

She stirred, just a bit, in her sleep, sighing deeply and twitching but her vitals in Carmilla's ears told her that Laura was still out like a lamp.

Carefully, the dirty and snow-soaked shoes were slipped off and deposited at the foot of the bed. Carmilla located a throw blanket from a chest in the corner and draped it over Laura, tucking it right up to her chin and taking a minute to rest.

On the edge of the bed she stretched out and relaxed her tense shoulder muscles and let her fingers dance for a moment across Laura's cheek, brushing back some hair. In her sleep she sighed again and softened her lips. Hopefully she was dreaming of home and the light snowfall outside.

"Don't get any ideas," Carmilla said to the stuffed panther, eyes still soulless.

She was up and out closing the door carefully on her way out.

Downstairs everyone was in some sort of circle across a living room, LaFontaine and Perry were demolishing a tray of sandwiches and chips. Cookies on another tray were left alone for now. Carmilla didn't blame them for that, after ingesting who knew how many formally human gingerbread cookies. There was a fire going and one or two sisters were actually roasting marshmallows and (are you kidding me?) chestnuts. There was Christmas music playing from a Spotify playlist connected to a speaker system. 

Carmilla stood in the doorway, not really sure if she should risk entering and sitting in some ceremonial chieftain seat or something.

"How is she?" Danny asked, holding out a mug.

Carmilla waited exactly 7 seconds before taking a step into the room and letting the mug fill up her hand, hoping it wasn't poison. It was blood. That was an unexpected courtesy.

"Dead to the world," Carmilla said, stepping back to once again stand on the fringes of the room.

"You found your housewarming gift?" Danny asked.

"Yes, thank you for spilling all my secrets," Carmilla said, taking a sip and Danny rolled her eyes.

"Oh please, I think finding out you're a vampire essentially makes the black cat thing look like some side effect of puberty you haven't outgrown," Danny said.

Carmilla shrugged and took another sip to avoid having to talk. In actuality she was being as polite as possible in preventing herself from guzzling the contents of the mug like chugging a beer bong. She was _starving_ and ready to vomit up the taste of raccoon blood at any moment. This was sweeter, protein rich, thicker, certainly human.

"Where'd you get this?" Carmilla asked, doing her best to wipe her mouth casually.

"The blood bank at student health was unmanned for a while," Danny said. "We've got a few packets so you'll have to ration it."

Carmilla nodded, taking another sip, this one long.

"While you're here that's all you get," said one of the sisters. "No hunting humans, not biting anyone, you do it once and you're out. No coming back."

Carmilla turned to look at the girl who spoke, she was one of the sisters by the fireplace and looked at Carmilla with nothing short of steel and venom. _Note to future Carmilla: if you end up inexplicably staked, it was probably that one._

She didn't acknowledge the girl with a nod or a word. Their eyes stayed locked for a few seconds until the girl went back to her chestnut on a skewer. She gave her props for the complete flippancy with which she just stared down a _vampire_. Carmilla would have to make sure those props didn't shove a glove of garlic down her throat and try and baptize her, though.

"Thank you, again," Perry said. "This is—"

"Perry, twice was enough," Danny said. "You guys are welcome." She looked at Carmilla. "All of you."

Carmilla took another sip and finished the remains. She wanted nothing more than to burst open a packet and drain it, her stomach was still painfully empty, but she had a feeling these rations were going to be monitored closer than a liquor cabinet at a teen house party. It would have to do for now until the house thawed out at her a little bit. If they ever did. Maybe she could ask Laura to get them for her.

"I'm going to bed," Carmilla said, setting down the mug.

"Isn't that way early for you?" LaFontaine asked, checking their watch.

"I have been up for 36 hours," Carmilla said. "Even I get tired."

LaFontaine nodded, took a massive gulp of water, wiped their mouth, and stood up, handing their empty plate off to Perry.

"I'll go with you, gotta stake a claim on the better side of the room," they said, nudging Perry who rolled her eyes and took another bite of her sandwich.

They headed up the stairs together in silence and Carmilla heard her name come up almost immediately as soon as they thought she was out of ear shot. Danny shushed them quickly and mumbled something that sounded like "vampire senses" and Carmilla stopped caring, tuning out their chatter in favor of listening now for Laura's breathing twenty feet away in the bed.

"They'll chill out," LaFontaine said when they got to the landing at the top. "They're just super team Danny and are probably pissed at you on her behalf."

"Oh good, so it's not just the speciesism that's going to get me staked in my sleep," Carmilla said.

"If it makes you feel better," they said. "Were the roles reversed I'd totally be pissed for you if it was Danny she chose."

"None of that is a mental image I want," Carmilla said.

She walked with LaFontaine to their room, next door to her own, and saw it looked much the same. One singularly, extremely comfortable looking, bed in the middle of a stately room. But she felt the heartbeat next to her start to kick up.

"Something the matter Dr. Moreau?" Carmilla asked, taking a step in to see if they got any ridiculous welcome gift of a cleaning supply bucket or toy microscope. _Nope, just me then getting made fun of. Typical._

"No, no," they said.

"I'm a walking lie detector kiddo," Carmilla said, grazing her fingertips on the flowers at the windowsill and growing increasingly bored with the conversation and watching the snowflakes outside.

"It's just, you know, one bed," they said.

"Yes, it's a number generally slightly more than zero."

"And one less than two."

Oh. This was too good. Carmilla turned quickly and didn't bother to stop the pull of her lip corners. In fact, she encouraged it because LaFontaine got redder and redder. Carmilla sauntered over to the bed and let her hand slide across the duvet.

"Feels like a great bed," she said. "Very… _durable_."

"So Laura and yours must be reinforced with steel then," they said, deflecting fast.

"If I put up with a semester of juvenile teasing, you're about to get the motherlode," Carmilla said, walking back towards the door. "I wonder which one of us is going to get the noise complaint first."

LaFontaine huffed and followed Carmilla out, shutting the door, and she snorted.

"Me thinks the person doth protest too much," Carmilla said, swinging over to her own door and pushing it open with a _click_.

Laura was still asleep on the bed, but she'd shuffled in the past half hour. She was half under the blanket, and half sprawled out. Her arms had broken free of the top hem and wrapped tightly around the stuffed panther, her head nuzzled into its stomach more than her own pillow.

"Oh, now that is adorable," LaFontaine said, taking out their phone and capturing a picture. 

Carmilla lacked the ability to blush, but she certainly remembered what it felt like.

"Great," Carmilla droned.

"I think that just may be her new yellow pillow," LaFontaine said, hanging in the door while Carmilla stepped in.

"In that case she can keep this one," Carmilla said.

"Oh, I think she just might."

" _Goodnight_ Laf."

They gave a cheeky wave as the door closed in front of them and Carmilla locked it. She unzipped the sides of her combat boots and toed them off at the door. Next she peeled off the red sweater which was beginning to smell quite ripe from its days of use. She kept the black t-shirt on as she slid to sit on the other side of the bed, watching Laura breath into the polyester fur of the fake panther.

Carmilla got distracted in that. She yawned once or twice and let her head sink down into the pillow, eyes still on Laura. Her lids were hooded as her blinks got progressively longer and longer.

Some part of Laura must have felt the eyes on her because she blinked herself into wakefulness as Carmilla was getting ready to settle down into sleep.

"Hey," Carmilla yawned.

"Hey. We're back at school?" she asked. 

"Dear old Silas."

Laura looked around for a moment and then down at what she'd been using as a pillow and flushed immediately from her forehead to neck and Carmilla chuckled.

"The TA left it for me, but it looks much better with you," Carmilla said, eyes closing completely.

"I prefer the real thing," Laura said lazily.

Carmilla felt her shuffle and suddenly warmth and body mass was against her side. As she did all those nights camped out in tents, Carmilla lifted her arm and allowed Laura to rest on her chest, arm across her stomach. Her fingers lazily combed through Laura's hair.

"Since we graduated to our own bed does that make this official?" Laura asked, her fingers were dancing a pattern on Carmilla's far hip.

"Whatever you want beautiful," Carmilla sighed.

"You mean you're not too cool for our new century, childish relationship labels?" Laura teased.

"Not if they're for you."

Laura stifled a sleepy giggle as she nuzzled into Carmilla's shoulder and her fingers in Laura's hair slowed their movements until she lost all energy to move, only staying awake a few seconds longer listen to Laura's light snores. It was not room 307, it didn't have the creaky floorboards, or arts and crafts chore wheel or her collection of books or that very stupid shower drain. They hadn't fallen in love in this room and it wasn't painted with memories. It would take some getting used to and the company downstairs just might make this miserable.

But when Carmilla dreamt of home it smelled like Laura.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the shortest thing I've written in a while. I have a few other ideas of random stories like this based on snaps and such if anyone is interested in that. Let me know. Thanks guys! :D


End file.
